Either way, looks like dad's cook was awesome and it looks like the roti is working as it should.
I ordered the newer model a few months back and returned it with amazon prime. The lid fit very well but the fit down into the bowl was not very good. For me, both this brand (newer model) and the Weber branded one were wobbly in the bowl. Probably you are better off with the older design and a gasket. It is like the barrel diameter was undersized a little. The lid fit was pretty good, and better than the Weber branded one which i also tried. With the older model, i think you will probably have a more stable fit due to the little hanger things that hang over the lip of the kettle's bowl. There's a guy out there with a BBQ channel on YouTube that profiled both the older ad newer model.